Best bets for swing/lindy in DC

April 16, 2009 9:42 PM

I'm going to be in DC at the beginning of May and need recommendations for a place to swing dance on a weeknight.

I am staying at the Marriott Courtyard in Arlington May 10-15th. Some place accessible would be ideal. I really like dancing to live music here in Chicago at the Big C Jamboree at Martyrs or Green Mill. I'm looking for something similar in DC-- I've found gottaswing.com and Swing Out DC with event listings, but was wondering if any Mefites have personal favorites? What's one location got over another?

I'll probably go solo and I'm not looking for a lesson-- just friendly folks, strong leads, and good music for social dancing.

posted by auntietennis to travel & transportation (5 comments total)

Glen Echo Park, just above DC, always comes up when talking of swing. Here's the May calendar. Looks like there's an event May 10 held by dancedc.com that advertises "about 75% blues tunes and 25% swing numbers".
Another group is Capital Blues, that hosts weekly Thursday dances.
Huh, there's an event going on this weekend, The DC Lindy Exchange.
I've just found this page, advertising a weekly dance in NW DC. No May info on their schedule as of yet, however.
posted by now i'm piste at 10:28 PM on April 16

A bit more. I can't speak to any of this on a personal level, as I'm not much of a dancer.
I did find this site which upon scrolling down reveals a list labeled WEEKLY DANCES WITH INSTRUCTION - DC & BALTIMORE AREA.
posted by now i'm piste at 10:38 PM on April 16

On Tuesdays, there's http://www.thejamcellar.com/
posted by 88nemeth at 5:36 AM on April 17

88nemeth, have you been to the Jam Cellar? I'm looking for an inside scoop to help me decide which place to go.
posted by auntietennis at 8:16 AM on April 17

As someone who has done a fair amount of swing dancing in DC, I can strongly recommend the Jam Cellar. Jam cellar is cheap, has great dancers, and is a really cool venue. But Jam cellar usually does not have live music. It is also pretty accessible by metro.

If live music is important to you, then the events by the GottaSwing people are usually your best bet. Friday nights at the Chevy chase ballroom are usually pretty good and almost always have a live band (though the band varies, so some are better than others). Also metro accessible.

I'm sad you are probably not going to get a chance to make it to the Spanish Ballroom (every other Saturday). Which is a fantastically gorgeous venue, huge, with large crowds, and live music.

One other good site to check for DC swing: jitterbuzz

Goodluck!
posted by vegetableagony at 9:13 PM on April 27